Rumi topi makes a comeback in Hyderabad shops

HYDERABAD: Mohammed Abid, 45, an expert craftsman in the bustling Madina market area, is a happy man these days as the famous Fez cap or Rumi topi, once adorned by the 7th Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, and his noblemen is back in business.

The cap markets of Old City had taken the royal hat off shelves with no takers for the hat, made in the shape of a truncated cone, of kilim fabric, multi-coloured with a tassel (phunna) attached to the top. It is largely believed to be of Greek origin with the cone (shell) imported from Greece, Turkey and Egypt for finishing to be done by craftsmen here back in the days.

The craft was dying in the last 20 years as people opted for fancy baseball caps or other hats, but traders say people off late have started ordering the hats again as a status symbol in marriages and important programmes. "Off late we are getting lot of young buyers especially for marriages, festivals and other functions," said Abid, who runs a cap mart in a lane close to Madina.

He is the lone supplier of this hat in the area and is a third generation craftsman keeping the Rumi topi alive by continuing his family legacy. Abid says each of the six-inch long Rumi topi requires 30 minutes to make and costs Rs 250. He along with other shopkeepers have started to stock them up again now.

"Earlier there were hundreds of craftsmen in Hyderabad but now there is only one left," says Rafi Ahmed of Ahmed Cap Mart. Mohammed Ilyas Bukhari of Mohammed Cap Mart maintains that he has had NRI customers who buy this hat to wear or to gift others. "Personality transforms completely once a person dons this hat on a sherwani," says Bukhari.

The titular Nizam Mukarram Jah is also known to wear this hat even now, apart from members of high profile Muslim families.

It was during 1920s when the Khilafat Movement started that this hat made its presence in India. Historian Ziauddin Ahmed Shakeb says that during those days it was worn by every individual who believed in Khilafat Movement.

The cap was also a part of the dress code at Osmania University. "In other parts of India, Rumi topi was largely worn by Muslims but in Hyderabad, both Muslims and Hindus, wore the topi as it was a mark of prestige and culture," Shakeb adds.

While the Rumi topi became fashionable during the reign of Nizam VII, later on in the police action era, people starting putting on the Gandhi caps. The Jinnah cap, also called Karakul hat, was also worn apart from the regular skull caps, perhaps taking the sheen off Rumi hats.

Ziauddin Shakeb says that Hyderabadi mind is a primitive mind and by donning the cap, people think that they are bringing the erstwhile glory back. "The Rumi topi making a comeback in Hyderabad is a revival of the past. Though it is not strongly predominant, it is making its presence felt," he said.